Short communication First record of the Pacific electric ray, Torpedo californica (Ayres, 1855) in the Gulf of California, Mexico By O. Escobar-Sa´nchez, F. Galva´n-Magan˜a and X. G. Moreno-Sa´nchez Centro Interdisciplinario de Ciencias Marinas (CICIMAR-IPN), La Paz, Baja California Sur, Me ´xico The family Torpedinidae includes one genus and 14 species. The Pacific electric ray Torpedo californica (Nelson, 1994) occurs from the Queen Charlotte Islands, British Columbia to Sebastian Vizcaino Bay, Baja California (Miller and Lea, 1972). However, some authors suggest the species range to be from Magdalena Bay, Mexico to California, United States (Eschmeyer et al., 1983). A reference list on this species can be found in http://www.fishbase.org, which lists 52 records along the west coast of North America. Preferred habitat of T. californica is fine, sandy bottoms. They bury in the sand, or swim just above it, and are often found around rocks and kelp beds at depths between 3 and 274 m (Miller and Lea, 1972). The Pacific electric ray feed on fishes such as herring and halibut (Ebert, 2003). They can produce a powerful electric charge of up to 45 volts to stun their prey or for defense. These rays are sometimes aggressive to divers when disturbed or provoked, but there are no records of injuries to humans by electric shock. Little has been published on the biology and distribution of T. californica; however, Love (1996) mentioned that a small fishery exists for specimens, which are used for biological and biomedical research associated with their electric organs. Only two papers on their life history have been reported, those by Lowe et al. (1994) and Neer and Cailliet (2001). In July 2007, a T. californica specimen was caught by fishermen in the fishing camp El Portugue´ s (Gulf of California) (24°47¢38¢¢N; 110°39¢39¢¢W). This ray was captured using monofilament gill nets. Identification was done using the key by Compagno (1984), Allen and Robertson (1994) and Castro- Aguirre and Espinosa-Pe´rez (1996). Morphometric measure- ments were taken of the fresh specimen (Compagno, 1984). The specimen was preserved in 10% formalin and is located in the fish collection of the Laboratory of Fish Ecology at the Centro Interdisciplinario de Ciencias Marinas-IPN in La Paz, Baja California Sur, Mexico (Catalogue LEPCICIMAR 07- 2007). The male electric ray measured 59.0 cm total length and 37.0 cm disc width. Other measurements are given in Fig. 1, where the first gill length is considered to be as the separation at the end of the first gill opening. The color was a uniform dark gray dorsally and white below, with small, irregular black spots over the dorsal area (close to 1.0 cm diameter). The disc was thick, flaccid and approximately round (Fig. 1). The other species recorded for the Pacific Ocean is Torpedo tremens, which ranges from Costa Rica to Chile (Allen and (a) (b) Fig. 1. Dorsal (a) and ventral (b) view of Torpedo californica, Gulf of California, Mexico, including morphometric measurements of the specimen J. Appl. Ichthyol. 26 (2010), 933–934 Ó 2010 Blackwell Verlag, Berlin ISSN 0175–8659 Received: November 11, 2009 Accepted: March 15, 2010 doi: 10.1111/j.1439-0426.2010.01489.x U.S. Copyright Clearance Centre Code Statement: 0175–8659/2010/2606–0933$15.00/0 Applied Ichthyology Journal of